Daily Dothttp://www.dailydot.com/Daily Dot Articleen-usTue, 05 Feb 2013 16:06:46 +0000Activist behind 49ers' "It Gets Better" video slams teamhttp://www.dailydot.com/society/49ers-it-gets-better-video-sean-chapin/<p><img src='http://cdn0.dailydot.com/cache/4a/f8/4af80cf6aaba2d7c0dde894cc23e7be6.jpg'></p><p>
Sean Chapin convinced the San Francisco 49ers become the first NFL team to produce an &quot;It Gets Better&quot; video. Now he&#39;s demanding to know why two players denied taking part.</p>
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Chapin, a San Francisco&ndash;based gay rights activist, <a href="http://www.dailydot.com/society/49ers-lgbt-it-gets-better-video/"><span class="s1">created a petition on Change.org</span></a> last year that garnered 16,000 signatures from supporters to &quot;help confront homophobia.&quot; It featured four players, including linebacker Ahmad Brooks and defensive tackle Isaac Sopoaga&mdash;<a href="http://www.dailydot.com/society/san-francisco-49ers-homophobia-it-gets-better/"><span class="s1">both of whom distanced themselves</span></a> from appearing in the video.</p>
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&quot;Oh, that. It was an anti-bullying video, not a gay [rights] video,&quot; said Brooks to a <i>USA Today </i>reporter prior to the Super Bowl. Reporters&#39; questions about the video were prompted by their teammate Chris Culliver&#39;s inflammatory and homophobic comments.</p>
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On comedian Artie Lange&#39;s radio show Jan. 29, Culliver said gay men weren&#39;t welcome on the team. &quot;We ain&#39;t got no gay people,&quot; Culliver said to Lange. &quot;They gotta get up out here if they do. Can&#39;t be with that sweet stuff. ... Nah, can&#39;t be ... in the locker room, man.&quot;</p>
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It Gets Better creator Dan Savage pulled the 49ers&#39; video.&nbsp;<a href="http://www.towleroad.com/2013/02/chapin49ersaddress.html"><span class="s1">Chapin then released a statement</span></a> on YouTube demanding the 49ers address the issue.</p>
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&quot;The last couple of days and what has happened has been very hard as a gay man and a 49ers fan,&quot; confessed Chapin in an <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IAJq-_jPqv4&amp;feature=player_embedded"><span class="s1">eight-minute video</span></a>. He called Sopoaga&#39;s and Brooks&#39;s comments &quot;confusing, disheartening, and just really frustrated me.&quot;</p>
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Chapin criticized the 49ers organization for releasing the video on Facebook initially, arguing that it wouldn&#39;t have the visibility of a YouTube release.</p>
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&quot;I think the way the 49ers handled this at this point is they have to do the right thing,&quot; demanded Chapin, who notes the team hasn&#39;t officially responded to the flap. &quot;They&#39;re sending the wrong message to LGBT kids.&quot;</p>
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<iframe class="youtube-player" frameborder="0" height="340" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/IAJq-_jPqv4?rel=0" title="YouTube video player" type="text/html" width="640"></iframe></p>
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<i>Photo via SeanChapin1/</i><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IAJq-_jPqv4&amp;feature=player_embedded"><span class="s1"><i>YouTube</i></span></a></p>
jordan-valinsky-1Tue, 05 Feb 2013 16:06:46 +0000http://www.dailydot.com/society/49ers-it-gets-better-video-sean-chapin/YouTubeSociety